Maine Democrats officially tapped former logger and one-time state Senate President Troy Jackson on Saturday to replace accused rapist Graham Platner as the party nominee in the high-stakes race against incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins.
The special nominating convention in Bangor served as a coronation for Jackson, who essentially locked up the nomination earlier this week after the vast majority of Maine’s 601 delegates pledged to support the 58-year-old – resulting in all but one of his opponents to drop out of the race.
Jackson’s nomination caps a mad scramble that started on July 8, when Platner announced that he would bow out of the Senate race after a woman he previously dated, Jenny Racicot, publicly alleged that he drunkenly raped her at her Maine home in 2021.
Platner, who continues to vehemently deny the accusation, officially withdrew from the race on July 10.
State law gave Democratic party leaders until July 27 to settle on a new nominee.
Even before the post-Platner politicking began, many viewed Jackson as the favorite to succeed disgraced former oyster farmer, given his populist brand of politics.
Jackson, a fifth-generation lumberjack and long-time union member, had been endorsed by socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in the Maine governor’s race, in which he finished in third place.
A onetime Republican, the ex-lumberjack previously held staunch socially conservative views on abortion, gay marriage, and immigration – even after he switched allegiances to the Democratic Party in 2004.
Jackson is also known for vicious anger flare-ups, including an incident in which he allegedly hurled a water bottle at a female pol in a fit of rage.
“He was an inch from her nose, screaming and hollering and haranguing her,” a former colleague recounted to the Washington Post, noting that there wasn’t physical contact.
At the time, Jackson was serving as president of Maine’s state Senate, and the targeted female lawmaker was terrified that he was attempting to hit her with the water bottle.
Jackson’s campaign acknowledges the Democratic nominee launched a water bottle, but vehemently denies that he was trying to hit the woman with it.
Here’s the latest on the bombshell sexual assault allegations which forced Graham Platner to drop out of Maine Senate race :
“Over 22 years in public office, there have been moments when he let his frustration get the better of him. When that happened, he took responsibility and apologized directly at the time,” his campaign said in a statement to CNN.
In the wake of Platner’s numerous scandals, the water-bottle incident, along with other alleged emotional outbursts by Jackson, have led to concerns from Democrats and outside observers that the new party standard-bearer may have more damaging skeletons in his closet.
The Maine race is key to which party will control the Senate.
The contest is rated as a “toss up” by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, and a RealClearPolitics average of polls showed Platner leading Collins by less than a percentage point before his scandals doomed his campaign.
